Superstar From Age 0

Chapter 709

My name is Jack Smith.

I’m a star hitter for the LA Dodgers, earning billions of dollars a year…but,

Right now, I’m in a pitiful state, swallowing my saliva in front of my friend who is staring at me intently.

‘How did this happen?’

Wasn’t it the start of this ordeal when I agreed to do a cameo for this acting maniac?

I felt like tears were blurring my vision.

“Hmm.”

My friend seemed lost in thought.

No, he was just stalling to tease me.

He was none other than the superstar Lee Seo-jun.

He could have easily judged my acting as pass or fail, but he was deliberately wasting time and making me nervous. 

He looked like he was really pondering, but I knew better.

‘That’s acting. Acting.’

It was a good thing he was my childhood friend.

Jack Smith, who was waiting for the verdict with wide eyes, and Seo-jun, who was debating whether to prank his friend or not.

There was a strange tension in the living room, but Choi Tae-woo didn’t seem to care at all. 

He was focused on preparing dinner based on the nutritional diet chart that Cocoa Entertainment’s Lee Seo-jun’s actor dedicated team 1 had sent him. 

He had no other thoughts in his mind.

‘I have to feed Seo-jun well since he started filming!’

And since his friend Jack Smith was here too, he had to make a lot of food as well as tasty. His movements became faster as it was almost dinner time.

After what felt like an eternity to Jack Smith, the acting maniac finally opened his mouth.

“Pass!”

“Uwaaa!!!”

The major leaguer roared.

He felt a greater joy than when he hit a home run in a game.

“I knew it!”

He said, throwing an uppercut in the air and enjoying the happiness of passing. He relaxed and sprawled on the sofa. 

The sofa was sturdy and soft, supporting his large and heavy body like an athlete.

“If you failed, I would have told you right away and started the lesson, but I didn’t do that this time, so I knew you passed!”

“Hahaha. Good job, Jack.”

“Yeah! I did a good job!!”

He stretched his long arms on the sofa as if cheering and wriggled, feeling the joy of passing again. Seo-jun laughed at Jack Smith, who was enjoying himself.

“Just do the same when you film.”

“Got it.”

Jack nodded, feeling enough happiness from passing. Then he asked curiously.

“But…”

“Yeah?”

“It was easier than I expected.”

…Expected.

Did he have to use such a word?

He thought, but Seo-jun understood right away.

‘My image is like that, huh.’

If his acquaintances heard this, they would have shouted ‘It’s not an image, it’s the truth!!’

“I’m using a novice as a cameo, so I have to make it as familiar and easy as possible. I don’t want to use someone who can’t act well in an important scene as a cameo.”

Even the trained actors looked at Seo-jun with sharp eyes, let alone a cameo whose main job was a baseball player.

“And Jack, you and I have been doing plays…or should I say, playing roles since we were young, so I knew your acting skills were decent. We stopped doing that when we grew out of playing house, though.”

“Yeah, we did a lot when we were young.”

Jack Smith nodded.

He didn’t remember much because he was too young to play baseball, but somehow he felt like he always did role-playing with baby Seo-jun.

‘No! Doctor Sun-sen-nim, you have to do it like this!’

‘…Like this?’

‘Yes! Good job, Jack!’

Ugh.

Jack Smith, who was recalling his memories, unknowingly groaned.

Baby Seo-jun, who demanded acting skills even when playing with his dad and dolls, also demanded acting skills when playing with his friend Jack Smith. Gentle Jack learned well.

It was like early education for acting.

If Jack Smith had been interested in acting, he might have become a good actor.

“Hmm. I see.”

Jack Smith nodded.

He had a plan from the start when he used a major leaguer as a cameo.

“You’ll be more immersed when you go to the set, because of the background and props. This scene is not using chroma key, but a real set.”

“That’s good.”

It was a bit awkward to practice acting in an empty living room.

“But what happens after this scene?”

Jack Smith asked, looking at the few sheets of paper on the table.

He only had the script for the part where he appeared, not the whole script of [Shadow and Knight], so he had no idea what was going on before and after.

Jack Smith, who was also a fan of the [Shadow Man Series], smirked at Seo-jun’s question.

“Watch the movie.”

“Come on, you can at least tell me the scenes before and after, even if not the whole plot.”

“Nope.”

Maybe it was because they had been together since they were babies, but they felt like they were back to their childhood when they were together.

Seo-jun and Jack’s eyes met, full of mischief.

Their hands slowly reached for the cushions next to them. They felt the softness of the cotton and the smoothness of the fabric in their right hands.

That was the signal.

The fluffy cushions started flying.

“Come on, tell me!”

“Watch the movie!”

“It’s a long time until the release!”

Bang bang!

The noisy sound made Choi Tae-woo, who was preparing dinner in the dining room, peek out his head.

“Do you want to eat dinner if you’re done practicing?”

“Yes, Tae-woo hyung!”

“Thank you!”

They put down the cushions (fortunately, they didn’t burst) that they were holding in their hands and answered cheerfully.

They went to the dining room, where the table was full of dishes.

Jack Smith’s eyes sparkled at the delicious-looking food, and Seo-jun smiled as he sat in his seat.

“Did you prepare this by yourself, Tae-woo hyung?”

He felt sorry if that was the case.

Choi Tae-woo waved his hand at Seo-jun’s words.

“No, I just reheated what the caretakers prepared for me.”

He had cooked some dishes himself, but it wasn’t too hard.

But Seo-jun, who had a cooking certificate, knew better. He smiled and said,

“Thank you, hyung.”

“Don’t mention it.”

Choi Tae-woo, who also had a bright smile on his face, sat down and the three of them started their meal.

It was a warm and delicious dinner.

***

The next day.

“This is the movie set…”

Jack Smith looked at the shooting site where the staff members were busy.

“…not a baseball stadium?”

It was a real baseball stadium in LA.

Jack Smith had often come here with his family and even played a game in this baseball stadium.

He looked puzzled and Seo-jun smiled and said,

“We rented the baseball stadium.”

“Then how are you going to film the scene where you act in a destroyed baseball stadium?”

“We have to film that in the studio set. It’s too hard to film it here. And the rest of the parts will be done with CG.”

“…Wow. You film in pieces like that?”

“That’s right.”

Seo-jun nodded at Jack Smith’s admiration.

The audience who didn’t know much about movie shooting might think that they filmed in one place, continuously, but the movie was actually a combination of editing the pieces of footage that they filmed.

And with the addition of full shot, bust shot, close-up shot, and other directing techniques, it took a long time.

“So you’re filming twice in the morning and afternoon. In the morning, we’ll film here at the baseball stadium and in the afternoon, we’ll move to the studio and film there.”

“I thought I’d be filming all day because I’m a beginner and I might make a lot of NGs.”

At that, Seo-jun smiled brightly at Jack. Very brightly.

“…I’ll do my best.”

“Okay.”

That’s right.

Seo-jun nodded.

“Let’s go and say hello to the director now.”

“Oh… I’m here.”

Huh?

Seo-jun, Jack Smith, and the quiet manager Choi Tae-woo looked at the direction where the voice came from. 

There were Jonathan, the director, and Evan Block standing there.

“Were you outside?”

“Yeah. I came out to greet Jack.”

Jack, who had been friends with Seo-jun since they were young, seemed to have a good relationship with Evan Block and Jonathan, the director.

“I’m watching the game well.”

“Thank you, Evan.”

“Thanks for appearing as a cameo, Jack.”

“I don’t know if I can do well.”

At that, Evan Block and Jonathan looked at Seo-jun. 

And then they remembered the smile they saw earlier. He was clearly smiling, but was it scary?

“I didn’t know that a silent smile could be so scary…”

“Jun is a bit…”

“He was like that when he wrote the synopsis, too. Evan.”

“I can hear everything.”

Ahem.

Evan Block, Jack Smith, and director Jonathan Will, who were chatting casually, coughed at the same time when they heard Seo-jun’s words.

Choi Tae-woo smiled softly.

“Let’s go inside then. We have to greet the actors from each baseball team as well.”

“It feels like we’re really playing a game when you say baseball team.”

Baseball stadium. Baseball team.

Jack Smith, who was tense at the familiar words, felt his stiff shoulders relax.

The two actors and the director smiled at him.

***

“Jack Smith, the player?!”

“What, how, here, why…?”

“Oh, you’re friends with Lee, the actor!!”

“Are you a cameo?!”

The extras who were already wearing uniforms were shocked by the appearance of the two superstars.

“Hello!”

“Please take good care of us today!”

Seo-jun and Jack Smith greeted the actors and headed to the waiting room.

[Actor Seo-jun Lee / Mr. Cameo]

Seo-jun laughed and said ‘Mr. Cameo’ and Jack hit Seo-jun’s side.

In the waiting room, there were uniforms hanging that were the same as the ones the extras were wearing.

Seo-jun changed into a uniform of the Bayron High School baseball team with a B on it, and Jack Smith changed into a uniform of another high school with an E on it.

“It feels a bit weird, doesn’t it?”

Jack, who had changed his clothes, and Seo-jun, who had been looking at each other, scratched their cheeks and said.

“Yeah.”

Seo-jun and Jack were childhood friends, but they had never attended the same school except for kindergarten.

But even though it was a movie shoot, and they were from different schools, it felt funny to wear uniforms and play a game together.

“It would have been fun if we went to the same school.”

“Yeah, it would have.”

Seo-jun nodded at Jack Smith’s words.

Of course, he enjoyed his school life in Korea, but he wondered what it would have been like if he had spent his school days in America. 

He could have met friends of various races and personalities, and he could have done interesting works since Hollywood was nearby.

“Maybe I should have stayed in America for a year or so?”

“That would have been nice too. Then we could have played baseball every day.”

“Uh, well.”

Jack burst out laughing at Seo-jun’s immediate reaction, and Seo-jun also laughed.

Outside the waiting room of actor Seo-jun Lee.

Evan Block and director Jonathan, who came to announce the preparation for the shoot, smiled softly at the laughter coming from the waiting room.

***

After the preparation time was over.

The [Shadow and Knight] team started to prepare for the shoot.

“Fans, this way!”

“Bayron High School students, over there!”

“Scouts! Families!”

The extras scattered to the stands according to their roles at the staff’s shouts.

And below the stands, on the grass and dirt field, the extras who played the roles of the same team players, coaches, and directors also took their seats on the bench.

Now it was time for Seo-jun and Jack to head to their respective team benches.

He never thought he would shoot with Jack like this.

He was so excited that he kept smiling without knowing it.

Seo-jun opened his mouth.

“Jack, let’s do our best.”

“Yeah. Jun.”

Jack also answered with a smiling face.